Six of Hearts 2012
by himitsutsubasa
Summary: 6 Six of Hearts fictions each numbering 666 words. PEOPLE! IT'S A COLLECTION OF ONE-SHOTS! Ratings vary. Chapter 1 is a table of contents.
1. Table of Contents

WALL IS UP!

1. Table of Contents

2. A Seedling (Rated:K)

Six plants a seedling and muses on what one could have done to prevented the world he lives in. GO RECYCLE! Six would have wanted you to.

3. Two for Two (Rated T)

The new agent Two is off to a bad start until a not-so-earthly friend of Six's decides to step in.

OR

Agent Two meets a person, who has a bit of advice, and learns there is more to the world than meets the eye.

3. The Time In Between. (Rated T)

Six is the Guardian of the Night. For the first time, he will meet the Guardian of the Day.

4. It Exists. (Rated K+)

I live in the City. And today, I saw something that makes me believe that love, a feeling I never thought I would see, does exist.

Anonymous narrator.

5. Wrote Our Own. (Rated T)

Six and Kyntak are partners in a creative writing class. And Jack Heath is there.

You should read it just because of that last sentence.

6. Imperative. (Rated T)

King is making a plan. Queen is hungry. Grysat is babysitting. Six is some sort of freak kid genius. Kyntak is flailing. You should be reading the fic RIGHT NOW. ModernAsInOurDay!AU.


	2. Story 1: A Seedling

_The Six of Hearts Series_ deals more with themes like identity and personal worth. (I know I sound like a grade school teacher when I say that.) But, it also has a strong bearing on responsibility, as Six mentions a few times how the world is a product of human issues from pre-takeover times. I know it would be amazing to live in a world like his, but I wouldn't wish the torture of dying before their thirtieth birthday on anyone. I'm happy Jack Heath addresses the issue, even if it was subconsciously.

I think we should all do our part to end global warming. It isn't just a natural occurrence. It's a problem we can solve.

Even if it is just turning off the faucet, multiply that by a million and you have an amazing force of change. Just a little step can make a huge difference.

Everything we do directly impacts our environment. I just want people to remember that. This will be posted as part of the collection and as a stand-alone fiction.

Remember this when you drink from a plastic water bottle or toss a piece of paper in the trash. You could take a step towards destruction or a place that is utopia.

Now that I'm done forcing my opinions on you, read the fiction. Wall is up.

* * *

The GM parks were some of the loveliest places in the city. Once you got past the parts humans invaded. The communal areas were littered with trash and the fog looked a sickly green in some places. But you had to walk past it all to find the beauty.

Trees reached up to the sky, vanishing into the fog. The fog would be less dense here. The sunlight would find ways to filter through and reach the dark floor below. It had a grey color to it, but that only added to the ethereal presence that was there. There was a feeling of peace and of disconnection, that there was only the thin tether of breathing to link one to the world of the living. Here, worries could be forgotten alongside pasts and other memories. But, futures could be born from the leaves that lay scattered across the floor. The hopes sprouted for the ground like the wild flowers, which grew like blankets. They were the robes of the redwoods, the kings of the forest. It felt like part of something bigger.

A person could grab a pack of climbing gear and go as far up as their lungs would allow. Up there, there was no fog. There was only clear sky and clouds at your feet. The air was clean and carried the fresh scent of pine needles. They could survey the city, tall spires that pierced the clouds. They could imagine the hundreds of thousands of people who muddled by in the streets below. The ones, buying and selling and working, and it would all fade away. Above the clouds, one could be part of something bigger.

Six leaned over the seedling. It was a small plant still. But he could imagine the tree it would grow into to. A tall strong red wood.

It would be a shaded spot for children to play under. It would be a refuge for the hippies hat lived in the park. It would be a companion to young lovers and adventure for thrill seekers. It would be part of something bigger. It would be another tree in a forest.

It would clean the air of carbon emissions. It would make breathing a little easier. It would stop the pollution that threatened the air they breathed. It could add a few years onto the lives of children yet unborn.

Six stood up. This tree would grow. It would be so many things. But most of all it would be a reminder.

It would remind people that their future was in their hands. Not in the hands of ChaoSonic, who, let's face it, didn't do a thing for the environment. They didn't care about the people. They were nothing more than a disposable work force.

Six knew that power. The strength that came from getting off the floor. He knew what it felt like to weave his own destiny.

And, that seedling would help others remember that.

He used to wonder how things got to this point. It was nothing but human stupidity. The desire to "live large" had driven the species into its own extinction. Greed drove everything into flames.

The world before could have done something. They could have stopped so the future didn't have to live where they did now.

They wouldn't have to scavenge for food. They wouldn't have to work a month for enough money to buy one meal. They wouldn't have to live in a dystopian society ruled by a rich bureaucracy. They wouldn't have to watch themselves slowly die from the air they breathed.

Six chuckled to himself. Human nature was what killed everything. Now, if only they could have stepped up and made a small change.

He got up from his kneeling position. Kyntak would be waiting in a glen not too far off. Leaving the little piece of heaven, he could not help but laugh at how far human greed could reach.

At his feet was an empty plastic bottle.


	3. Story 2: 242

Two reclined in his new chair. This was a new office too. Empty save the sparse furniture: a desk and a chair. Actually, all of this was new, down to the carpet. Except…

It wasn't the objects that were new. It was him, Agent Two of Hearts, officially on the job for one day. And in that one day, he had managed to disturb the most feared man in all of Deck, Kyntak. That blonde could be seriously scary if it occurred to him. That was concurred by all when he beat Six, the best agent known to mankind, in mock combat.

Mostly, he was a nice bloke who didn't want to do anything more than take apart and then put together a machine gun or lounge around in his office. Barring: he wasn't annoying Six of Hearts, the above mentioned and most terrifying Card in the Deck.

How was he to have known they were doing not so G-rated acts in the broom closet? He was just looking for disinfectant because there was a strange stain on the top of his desk. Two had been just in luck to see Kyntak pulling a pin on Six that should only be done on judo mats, definitely not in cleaning closets against walls. Two slammed the door and ran.

He had no voyeuristic tendencies.

Period.

It was awkward at the briefing afterward.

A bright light flashed from behind as the door opened. A muscular man walked in. His stride was heavy and purposeful, but almost seemed to float above the ground.

"Hello." The man took a seat on the edge on his desk.

Two assumed he was a Heart. The bulkiest ones were Five and Nine; Two couldn't be sure if the man was either.

"I heard you and Six weren't getting off on the right foot." The man gave him a sympathetic grin.

"You go that right." Two reclined in his chair.

The man chuckled. "Any big problems?"

Two thought for a second. "He's scary as hell." The man chuckled again.

"He isn't bad once you get to know him." Two found that hard to imagine. Very hard to imagine. All he had gotten so far was a death glare.

"I caught him in a closet with another bloke." Two didn't know what brought it on, but the man looked so familiar. He felt he could tell the man anything.

"Kyntak, eh?" Two nodded. "Well, I guess that means we can close the betting pool. Somebody owes me fifty credits."

Two was shell-shocked. "Betting pool?"

The man looked chipper at the thought of his money. "Yep." Then, he looked thoughtful. It was a sorrowful sort of thoughtful. The kind you got when your day went pear shaped, and then it started raining.

After a few moments, he perked up again. "That's right! I was supposed to tell you how to deal with Six." Two leaned in. Typically someone offered to help the new guy.

"Talk to him."

Two waited for more. When it didn't come, he went slack jawed. The man held up his hands.

"I mean it. Talk to him. I started talking to him in an elevator. Then, Kyntak hopped on and we just joked around. Sure we didn't know all the other Deck agents were kidnapped at the time, but how were we to know that?" The man shrugged as Two choked back a gasp.

"Anyway, we became good friends." A gasp and a million questions.

The first being: who are you and how can you refer to Six as a friend?

Seeing the expression on his face, the man laughed. It was a deep rumbling sound. He glanced at the clock. "Take my advice." He swept out of the room a faint smell of aftershave trailing in his wake.

Two sighed. He might as well try.

He remembered with a jolt why the face looked familiar.

The man was Agent Two of Hearts.

The former and deceased.

A good friend of Six's.

* * *

Number Two is of course about Two. The new and former.


	4. Story 3: The Time In Between

For the first time in his life he would meet the other time carrier. King had given him the domain that day at noon. They were the guardians of day and night. Six popped the collar of his dark coat. It was made of the starless skies, tailored by the goddess of the moon, an uniform for her guardian.

Six stared down the dark street. It was summer in the city. His night of control could be short.

A clatter sounded from behind. Six turned to see a young man the same age as himself. There was bleached blonde hair and tanned skin. He wore a blue T-shirt and sewn onto the shirt was the image of the sun. Six could see it was the uniform of the sun god.

"Sorry, I'm late. There was a line at the coffee stand." Sure enough the blonde was holding two cardboard cups. "Want one?"

Six shook his head. He just wanted domain over the time. Soon, sunset should arrive.

"Suit yourself." The man started sipping the coffee.

Six glanced at the silver pocket watch.

The blonde checked his own golden one. "Want to go for a walk? Sunset can drag out a little longer."

The man was right. Sunset could drag out longer on these days. Six couldn't help but think about the time meant to be spent. King told him the previous guardian was a woman named Queen. Then, he mentioned the boy. Thinking on it, Six couldn't help but feel revulsion for the man in front of him. How could he smile so easily?

"Are you feeling alright?" Six nodded. The man looked unsatisfied but continued the marching pace

They walked over the city, seeing the sights that belonged in their shared domain. The day guardian never stopped talking, which got in Six nerves. But, he had curious insights that helped Six think of old things in new ways.

The blonde finished a cup a started on another. "Want to go up the sea wall?"

"Sure." The blonde started off in the general direction before the night guardian could change his mind.

They meandered over the wall, sometimes stopping to watch the people below or the sky, which gradually turned pink, through the holes in the Fog.

Eventually, it became unbearable. The ticking against Six's fingers told him he had only seconds until the domain was to be transferred. The blonde sat on the stone of the Sea Wall. He gazed over the expanse of ocean that reached to the far distant horizon.

Six shifted in his seat, turning to face the man. The man only blinked when Six placed a sloppy kiss on his lips. A soft twinge of red bled into the pink sky.

"Let me," the man whispered. Hands lightly touched his face and neck, guiding. Soft, if chapped, lips brushed against his before pressing for a chaste kiss. Red bloomed across the sky fading into pink tendrils. The blonde pulled away, hands lingering only a moment longer.

"Here." He held out the cup of coffee. Belatedly, Six realized that was the plan all along. An indirect kiss may have ended the day just as a real one. If not they, could walk together hand in hand until the sky turned to pink and violet.

And even more likely, the man had no interest in Six.

The blonde smiled at him as he walked away, baby blue eyes dancing in the fading light.

Six sighed and leaned over the wall. He held the coffee in his hands savoring the chill of the sporadic sea breezes.

The thoughts of someone else filled his mind. He could easily guess who. Bitter bile rose in his throat, an uncharacteristic occurrence. One he could only contribute the strength of emotion and the power of gods.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the blonde wave.

"Hey, Six, name's Kyntak." He winked.

"Today's my first day too."

Six suppressed a smile.

"See you in the morning."


	5. Story 4: It Exists

I sat in the center of the City. All the old roads led back to this one center. This was a place form before the takeover, a place where people used to gather and meet.

I imagined a café to my right. A girl would walk out in a cheongsam twirling a parasol on the arm of a man in a suit. Through the window, I could see a pair of sisters chattering over the menu, poring over the fabulous foods and talking about their days. The waiter, a clumsy young man, would take their orders, fumbling over words and making them laugh.

Beyond the café was a little boutique. Pretty dresses lined the window in every color of the rainbow. A boy would adjust one of the mannequin's hats. He would watch a blonde girl who walked by and smile when she turned to wave.

To my left there was an art gallery. Expressive splattering s of paint decorated the walls and canvasses hung on pegs adding livelier colors to the mix. A potential buyer and his assistant surveyed a piece before turning to the manager to ask the price.

In front of me, there was a fountain, a tall, statuesque feat of stone. Fresh water would rain down from its turrets, splashing all who ventured too near. A child and his mother would sit on the stone, that wasn't quite wet, and share ice cream cones.

Beyond them I could see a couple stare into each other's eyes, oblivious of the colors and noise around them. They would hold onto each other as if they would never let go. Everything faded in comparison as I watched them.

It was something so foreign in the place I came from. I had seen money buy "love" and "companionship". All my life, my mother, my brother, and my sister were part of it. I was going to be too. As long as I was hungry, I would have to do what I could to fill my stomach. As long as I had to breathe, I would have to find money to pay for the air purifier.

There was no way out.

Yet, here they were so happy; so content to just stand there until the earth ended, the buildings around them crumbled to dust.

It was different.

"Chickens! Fresh chickens!" The vendor's voice dragged me out of my reverie.

There is no café, only a vendor. There is no boutique, only a ChaoGear store. There is no art gallery, only a parking lot. There is nothing left of the fountain but crumbling marble. People mill around the plaza, phantoms in the fog. They are oblivious to what has been; that they are standing in the epicenter of something greater.

No one noticed.

No one realized.

I was alone.

Again.

But, beyond the fountain, I saw two people.

One was dark haired. His coat flapped in the wind making him a striking figure. I saw pale skin, alabaster in its perfection, and a body that rivaled the statues of the masters.

The man he was meeting with was blonde. The sandy hair the color I imagined the beach to be. He smiled with his mouth and with his eyes. The most honest kind of smile I ever knew. He motioned about with his arms gesturing to the fountain.

The dark haired one settled on the edge of the fountain's ruins. The blond stood beside him. They smiled to each other, eyes meeting.

For a second, time seemed to stop. The blonde leaned closer, pulling the dark haired one in. A short stopped showing his hesitation, asking for permission. The dark haired one lifted his chin and closed his eyes. The force of their touch lifted the dark haired one off the fountain's edge and into the blonde's arms. I couldn't have imagined a more perfect kiss.

When they parted, I saw then stare into each other's eyes, oblivious to the grey around them.

I learned love does exist.


	6. Story 5: Wrote Our Own

"Partners." Professor Heath's voice rang out over the hall. Students busied themselves finding partners for the project, writing a 20,000 word story. So far, they had written a collection of stories under 5,000 words in several genres.

Six's horror fiction sent him to the psychologist's office. There he told the tall woman (who said shrinks were short?) that he had copied most of it from horror movies. He listed the movies and it placated her.

Kyntak Heath, the professor's son, was forced to read his romance fiction in front of the class. His romance between two teenage boys, who happened to be brothers, was beautifully written. He had a small following.

Kyntak seeing as girls were ready to mob him, tackled Six.

"Kyntak, explain." Kyntak only pulled on his hand.

"Partners?" Six weighed the issue. He had to have a partner, no exceptions. He disliked many of the illiterates in the class and wasn't quite ready to work with any of the emo-goths. Yes, not ready for the dark side no matter what anyone said about his coat. Kyntak fit the bill nicely.

"Sure." Kyntaks victorious face glowed.

"Yeah!" Kyntak pumped his fists in the air.

Heath looked up "Did you just propose?" Six gave him a wait-what-why-just-how look.

"No, but close!" Kyntak was ridiculously happy. Six should have been worried.

Yes, he should have been and he was. Apparently, Kyntak had believed that Six was one of those emo-goths who had creative tendencies.

"I am not one of them." Kyntak had taken to banging his head into a table.

"But, the jacket."

"It's the middle of winter."

"You wear it all the time."

"I like it. I'm a bio major." Kyntak banged his head again. Six sighed. He was stuck with a business major. This wasn't going to be fun.

At Kyntak's amazingly big flat, Six kicked back in his chair. "No."

"But, pink ponies!" Kyntak was tossing any idea up that he could.

"No." Kyntak was going in for another round of head banging when Six sat up right.

"I have it. That romance you wrote. We'll use that." Kyntak pondered it for a second.

"Yeah! That works!" He put a pen on paper. "But, didn't we do that already?"

Six thought for a second. "How about adding a dystopian society? We could also add some pseudo-science on biotech."

"Perfect." Kyntak started drafting the outline.

Six found little time for surveillance during the project. It gave him some time to think though.

Everything was going swimmingly. They wrote the plot in haphazard bursts, making good time. That was until Kyntak fell asleep. And didn't wake up.

The nurse didn't let him inside even when the doctor's had finished. Nothing more than over work.

"What is your relation to Mr. Heath?" Six banged his fist on the table.

"I'm his classmate."

She winced as his fist made contact with the table. "I'm sorry, sir, but…"

"And, his bloody boyfriend! Let me in!" But, something in him clicked.

For the past hour, he had done anything but think rationally. He blindly followed the nurse into the room. Kyntak was asleep.

He had learned to fight, to be prepared, to calculate his moves, and above all stay calm. It all fell into ruin.

"I'm his father!" Six recognized the voice. A man burst into the room.

"Kyntak's doing well. He's just sedated." Professor Jack Heath stared at Six with wide eyes.

"How?"

"I'd like to ask the same thing. I pass out, get probed, and the first thing I see is my dad hugging my boyfriend." Kyntak managed to prop himself up. "How?"

"Boyfriend?"

"You said so yourself."

Six brushed off the implication that Kyntak was awake the whole time.

"I knew the whole time," Heath offered. "You're really obvious."

"Wow." Kyntak slumped against the fluffed pillows. "This is one hell of an outing."

Six took a seat. "You're telling me."

"If it helps, I don't care you're a guy."

That earned Jack a few strange looks.

* * *

yep. I wrote it.


	7. Story 6: Imperative

It was imperative that everything went right. It was imperative that nothing went wrong. It is so imperative it must be said twice.  
King called in and to his dismay the setting for the confrontation was unavailable. He banged his fist on the table mindful of Six, who was in the other room. There would be no cursing tonight. Six would surely suspect something. He wasn't to know of this mission. But first he still he had to meet Queen.

How would he do that? Something was bound to come up. She was not to know his intentions.

So he ran his rand through the bucket of restaurant cards he collected. Thai sounded nice. He called in and much to his chagrin everything was booked or not good enough.

Through at the whole thing he had ignored Six. Six who padded in and out of the room graciously ignoring King's struggling fumbles. It took him only a moment to realize that Six had left a basket laying about in the kitchen.

The kid was some sort of freak genius. The weather was perfect that night. The fog was just at its thinnest and the nearest park would be in the perfect spot to see stars. King knew the perfect place for the confrontation, which was only a small walk away.

Then he busied himself making sandwiches because when you wanted to ask something of Queen you had to ask her on a full stomach. Whenever her blood sugar was low, she was all together too snarky. King was never sure what to do then. Six on the other hand preferred that Queen to the one where her thoughts always went this way or that.

Six was left with a babysitter, Grysat. Sure, Grysat whined the whole while but the promise of imported cheese always shut him up.  
He arranged the food on the blanket as Queen sat down. Sandwiches and lemonade. Not a perfect dinner but what he could whip up in less than an hour. Queen was terrifying on an empty stomach. They ate and talked about the day's work. Queen's smuggling case was over as was King's kidnapping one. Both had happy endings.

After, he invited her on a walk.

"I don't know what they were thinking. I mean a smuggling ring? So boring." She preferred the more wild cases. Too bad there weren't more.

"Doesn't matter though. We caught them."

"Yep. And, I have a favor to ask."

She eyed him warily. "What do you need?"

"Hmm… Well…" Queen sighed, her eyes drifting off. King saw they were finally at the confrontation scene.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a cube. He opened it.

"I was wondering if you would do me the honor of marrying me."

Queen's eyes lit up. She held out her hand. "Of course."

King kissed her hand before sliding the ring on her finger.

Queen beamed at him. "Six, get out of that bush," she called.

Six years old Six gracefully jumped from a tree, saying "Correction: tree."

Grysat was the one clambering out of the bush, burrs clinging to his shirt. "That was so fail," he muttered under his breath.

Queen gave King's nonplussed expression a lifted brow. "You had absolutely no idea?"

He gave a very intelligent, "Uh…"

Six shrugged. "It was too easy to guess and Grysat's a push-over." Grysat flushed at how easily he had been manipulated.

King reiterated his beliefs, "Freak kid genius." Six gave him an eye roll in return.

Queen, on the other hand, whispered conspiratorially to Six.

He gave her a cheeky smile.

"It was absolutely no problem."

* * *

"When were you going to tell me?" Kyntak's hands flailed in the air.

The interrobang floated above his head. Kyntak finally calmed down.

"So King and Queen are your parents?"

"Adopted," Six comfirmed.

Kyntak rolled his eyes. "Lucky."

Six shrugged. "Not if you knew how hard it was to get then engaged. It put me off relationships for life."

* * *

Another AU. ModernAsInOurTime!AU. Wall is always up.

ALWAYS.


End file.
